Turning Japanese
Alex Hoban immerses himself in the world of Japanese pop to bring you rabid superfans, international pop wars and the latest goings on in Hiroshima's drum'n'bass scene
Turning Japanese: What we've learned from Japan's music scene
All good things must come to an end. And so, as Alex Hoban returns from Japan to open Europe's first Osaka-inspired cat cafe, he reflects on the last year of eastern revelations …
Turning Japanese: Notes from the underground – Part three
In the final part of our series, we speak to Ian Martin, a British event organiser and DJ, who is trying to give Japanese alternative music the exposure it deserves
Turning Japanese: Notes from the underground – Part two
In the second of our three interviews with people trying to make it in the Japanese indie music scene, we talk to VV, lead singer in US hip-hop outfit Food for Animals
Turning Japanese: Notes from the Underground – Part one
Why has Japan struggled to foster credible underground music scenes? Turning Japanese spoke to three people who are trying to rectify this, starting with indie label owner, Fumi Chikakoshi
Turning Japanese: International pop wars
Alex Hoban: Thanks to the tension between the two countries, Japanese and Korean pop has developed in isolation. But all that is changing
Turning Japanese: Tokyo's promotional powerhouse
Responsible for introducing Radiohead, Green Day and Beastie Boys to Japan, Creativeman Productions is one of the country's biggest players in live music promotion
Turning Japanese heads to China: D22 and the Beijing scene
China's most famous underground music venue is fostering a new generation of indie bands – despite looking a lot like a Wetherspoons in the east Midlands
Turning Japanese heads to China: The Shanghai scene
At Shanghai's Dream Factory concert venue, the local talent outshines western bands to such an extent it suggests the Chinese indie-rock revolution is imminent
Turning Japanese: Fukuoka's music scene
The city is nurturing a vibrant underground arts movement that unites music and design, and embraces influences from around the world
Turning Japanese: Squarepusher among the snowpeaks
Set amid spectacular mountainous scenery, Taico Club is a music festival where the only highs are provided by the surreal soundtrack to the beautiful surroundings
Turning Japanese: Meeting the Lily Allen superfans
We track down the Lily Allen superfans queueing to see her play a concert in Tokyo
Turning Japanese: The architecture of pop
Yokohama's Greenroom festival offers the kind of architectural and scenic utopia that you don't really get to experience at an industrial estate in Reading
Turning Japanese: MTV video music awards Japan 2009
Green Day pretend to urinate on the red carpet, Beastie Boys play for only three seconds, and Usher and Ne-Yo get the biggest cheer. And those were the high points of the evening ...
Turning Japanese: The philosophy of Ryuichi Sakamoto
The Yellow Magic Orchestra founder's thoughts on climate change and why the internet is a return to something tribal
Turning Japanese: Tokyo's indie-rock showcase
Alex Hoban: Cupid Recordings is Japan's answer to Manchester's Factory Records, and its triumphant launch-party features the country's brightest alternative stars
Turning Japanese: Backstage at Rock Chick
Away from mainstream pop, Japan's best rock'n'roll bands have always been female. And most of them make western music's masculine posturing look positively puny
Turning Japanese: Jero … the hip-hop enka star!
He might look like an east coast rapper, but this African-American computer technician has revived an old genre and won the hearts of, er, a generation of Japanese pensioners
Turning Japanese: Teenage kicks
This week, we head to the countryside to find out what role music plays in the lives of four teenagers who are part of Japan's overlooked rural majority
Turning Japanese: On the road with Asian Kung-Fu Generation
We follow one of Japan's biggest rock bands as they abandon the bright lights of Yokohama for a gig at a castle in the country
Turning Japanese: The Tokyo dance hit list
From the mastermind behind Shibuya-kei to the super-producers who give Japan's pop princesses their bite, this week's strobelight falls on Tokyo's dance and electro pioneers
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